Packaging and similar machines



Sept. 19, 1961 J. G. H. oLLlER Erm. 3,000,157

PACKAGING ANDv SIMILAR MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1958 SLW 1 xbh. uuml Wg@ LITER FQL.

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SePt- 19, 1961 J. G. H. OLLIER E'rAL 3,000,157

PACKAGING AND SIMILAR MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 25 1958 Sept. 19, 1961 .1. G. H. oLLlER `emu. 3,000,157

PACKAGING AND SIMILAR MACHINES Filed June 25, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 19, 1961 0 .1. G. H. oLLlER Erm. 3,000,157

PACKAGING AND SIMILAR MACHINES Filed June 25, 195s I e sheets-sheet 4 Sept. 19, 1961 J. G. H. oLLn-:R ErAL 3,090,157

' PACKAGING AND SIMILAR MACHINES Filed June 25, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 19, 1961 .1. G. H. oLLlER ETAL PACKAGING AND SIMILARv MACHINES 6 Sheecs-SheerI 6 Filed June 25,v 1958 United States Patent O 3,000,157 PACKAGING AND SIMILAR MACHINES Jacgues Gaspard Honor Ollier, 17 Rue du General Henrlon Bertier, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Georges Frderic Grosshans, 53bis Rue de Boulainvilliers, Paris 16,

France, and Robert Masson, 6 Blvd. de Courbevoie,

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Filed June 25, 1958, Ser. No. 744,536 Claims priority, application France June 29, 1957 4 Claims. (Cl. 53-184) The present invention relates to packaging and similar machines of the kind intended to permit the formation of articles, especially boxes and similar containers, from exible bands `of a material such for example as a thermoplastic material of the type of vinyl chlorides, polyethylenes, polyamides, etc.

Machines of this kind have already been described, for example in United States Patent No. 2,736,150 granted on February 28, 1956, but these machines have a very high production cost and only permit of the production of a single type of article, which makes it impracticable to employ them industrially for the manufacture of small and medium sizes of a single article.

The present invention has as an object the provision of a machine for making articles of plastic material which satisfies, better than any other available up to the present time, the various requirements of practice, especially with respect to their low cost of production and their universal nature (the aptitude of a single machine, with slight modifications in some cases, for the manufacture of very different types of articles).

The invention mainly consists in arranging the machines of the kind referred to in such manner that at least one band can be brought through a number of units or stations (for heating, forming, welding, cutting-out) arranged in succession in positions which are preferably variable at will so as Ito be adapted to the manufacture envisaged, these units being preferably mounted in an adjustable manner on at least two parallel bars, and comprising in most cases a portion in the form of a gantry adapted to be xed in an adjustable manner on these bars, and a movable portion of annular form displaceable with respect to the gantry portion perpendicular to the band, the whole being in combination with means for moving the band step by step at a rhythm which is a function of the cycle of operations effected in the said units.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the machine comprises a station for heating the band before forming, which comprises means such as masks which enable the extent and/ or the position of the zone of the band to which the heating is applied, to be varied at will.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the description which follows and to the accompanying drawings, the said description and drawings being understood to be given by way of example only.

'In the drawings: Y

FIG. l is a diagram in elevation of a machine, vprovided in accordance with the invention, capable of manufacturing boxes; I

FIG. 2 is a. diagrammatic view in perspective of a machine according to the invention, corresponding to the diagram of FIG. 1; d

FIGS. 3 to 5 Vshow in side view and partly in crosssection, the units or stations of the machine of FIG. 2 for respectively forming, welding and cuttinggout operations;

FIGS. 6 and 7 respectively show diagrammatically, in i vertical cross-section and in plan view, the heating device which is also comprised in the said machine;

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a perspective view of a band treated in two different ways by means of a machine provided in accordance with the invention;

Mice

FIG. 10 shows in perspective a box with an attached handle, capable of being produced by means of such a machine;

FIG. 11 shows in perspective another type of box or recept-able which can be produced by means of a machine according to the invention;

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a further article, mainly a bottle, obtained with a machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 13 shows also in perspective a similar article obtained from two bands;

FIG. 14 shows in perspective an article of the type of teacloths with embroidery, produced by the said machine;

FIG. 15 shows in perspective the manufacture of artif cles of the wallet type;

FIG. 16 is a detailed view in perspective of a machine according to the invention, in conformity with the dia'- grammatic views of FIGS. l and 2;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic view of Ian alternative form of the machine of FIGS. 1, 2 and 16.

The invention contemplates a machine which is arranged in such a manner that it permits of continuous treatment of at least one bandpwhich is brought successively, by means of -a step-by-step mechanism regulated according to the nature and the time-cycle of the operations to be effected, through a number of units or stations comprised by the said machine and adapted in particular;

To insure the previous heating of the said band at the place or in proximity to the place at which the forming is to be effected;

Then to carry yout this forming, preferably by a pneumatic action, and in particular by the action of a vacuum created in an appropriate mould;

To enable the cavities obtained by this forming operation to be eventually iilled in the case of boxes;

Vjust been indicated, since they will depend on the applications considered. u

Generally speaking, the said units or stations are preferably arranged in accordance with the invention in such manner that their respective positions may be regulated, especially inorder to enable the machine to be adapted tovery different operations. 1

To take an example, and assuming the case of manufacture of boxes with lids, the machine of,V FIG. 1 is arranged so that it carries out simultaneous `treatment'of two bands 1 and 2Aintended respectively for the box and for the lid, and unwinding step-byfstep from reels 3 vand 4, these bands being particularly treated in the stations following in succession along the machine, at intervals of respective lengths A, B, C,l D, E, F, which can be varied at will: .A i K v 5'- At A is vprovided a heating station CH, for example operating by infra-red rays, this station being preferably adjustable and especially according to the arrangement described later with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, in such manner that the ydimensions of the surface tovbe heated can in particular be selected at will;- 'll At B is provided a forming station PF, comprisirig essentially a mould 5 with holes 6 or other meansf creatinga vacuum-and thus'treatin'g-the 'band so "as to y 3 take the shape of the mould, producing a formed band' la;

At C is provided a free space corresponding to a filling. zone, with manual or. automatic lling means the said space being of variable length,tthat is to say comprising a variable Ynumber* of elementary lengths d, depending on the requirements of the filling stage;

At D is provided a welding station PS to tit and tix the l'id' (or other member) produced from the second band 2,r on the formed band 1a, `it being understood that the closure may be wholly or partly sealed and that this closure maybe combined with any other operation such as evacuating or filling with gas;

At E is provided a punching-out and ejection station PD, when boxes such as 7 are to be produced; And yat F is provided a drawing device T, that is to say adapted to cause the band or the two bands or more to progress step by step ata suitable rate so as to pass them from one station to that following.

In FIG-2, and especial-ly in FIG. 16 (in which the same reference numbers have been used for the same elements), there has been shown in somewhat greater detail ,a machine which complies with the conditions which have just been stated. It can be seen that the pull from thedrawing device T i is applied on the portions 8 of the bands which remain after cutting-out and ejection. Thistdevice ,could however be the ejector device in the case Where the nished products consist of bands shaped Iinasuitable manner (such as for example the cases of FIG-S. 8, 9, 13, etc., which will be described later). For a nlling operation in the case of boxes, a dosing device is mounted at 19.

With regard to the manner of construction of the various stations or unitstCH, PF, etc., referred to above, ythis may be carried out in different ways, especially having regard to the arrangements which will now be eX- amined.

In the first place, according to `a general arrangement which can be applied to the whole of the machine, the construction is such that the various stations are mounted in an adjustable manner on at least two bars or similar means such as 9 (FIGS. 2 and 16), this arranget ment enabling the respective positions of the said stations to be regulated in a very simple manner by sideways displacement of the said barsV (in FIG. 16 there is shown `agraduated rule 35 which serves for the correct positioning of the various movable stations).

Then as regards the stations themselves, and in the .rst place with reference to the heating station OH, the latter is arranged in such manner that it comprises various masks and screens, the positions of which can be varied so as to permit the size and/or 4the position of the surface to be heated to be varied at will; and to form, .especially on the edges of the bands, marginal reserved vportions which are not subjected to heating with the object of leaving the remaining portions such as 8 (FIGS. 2 and 16) in the case where cutting-out is provided, with a suitable strength to withstand the tractive effort to be applied by T1'.

In accordance with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, ithas been assumed that four screens are arranged to co-act with rows of infra-red heaters 10,

namely:

Two screens I11 cooled/'by water circulation or other means, these screens being adapted to mask a variable fraction of the eld of action of the said rows, and thus toregulate the total surface to be heated (that is to say, ,in the case shown, the surface of the box to be formed, shown 'as `a shaded surface in FIG. 7);

vAnd two further screens 12,acting laterally so as to vprovide the marginal reserves referred to above, -so-that the bandeau retain on its edges its initial mechanical characteristics.

In FIG. 116there can be :seen on one hand the two lateral screens 12 which leave unheated the edges of the band 1, the distance apart of these two screens being adjustable so as to be able to treat bands of different widths, and on the other hand, the single screen 11 arranged underneath the band 1 (since the heating of the band takes place solely from below in the case of this machine), the position of this screen 11 being adjustableby means of a lever 11a by pulling it more or less out of the heating device CH.

As regards the other stations concerned with the operations of forming, welding, cutting-out, etc., these are preferably produced:

By a portion 13, especially in the form of a gantry, adapted to be xed in an adjustable manner on the bars 9;

And by a plate 14 movable transversely with respect to the band to be treated (in this case vertically), guided for example by means of columns 1,5, this plate being preferably-in the form of an elongated ring, the working tools for forming, welding, and cutting-out being respectively carried by these two portions 13 and 14.

The ringform of the plates such as 14 is an advantage in effecting the mounting and positioning of the forming, welding andcutting-out tools. In addition, in the cuttingout station, Yit facilitates the ejection of the box or other article 7, `which passes out through the interior of the said ring and thus reaches the ejection hopper 24 (see FIGS. 2 and 5). t

The operations of forming, welding, cutting-out and the like, will be eiected with advantage by movements of the movable plate v14. In any case, the latter should generally be moved away from the corresponding gantry after each operation, if this displacement is necessary to permit the continued travel of the band. For ythe movement of the said plate 14, any known meanstmay be employed, for example the jacks 16 operated by compressed air.

In FIG. 16 there has been shown a preferred form of embodiment employing the simultaneous distribution of compressed air through an incoming conduit 37 and a return conduit 38, to the threey jacks 16 of the forming station PF, the welding station PS and the cutting-out station PD in order thatl these three operations of forming, welding and cutting-out may be carried out simultaneously when theY band is stopped.

lFIG. 3 shows the forming station. There can be seen at 17 a iixed base carried by the gantry 13 and at 5 the mould proper with its conduits 6 connected at 18 to the source of vacuum, this source being constituted for example by a vacuum pump driven by compressed air.

In certain cases, the forming station PF may smiply produce surface elects or cut-out portions for example, so as to produce articles such as those shown in FIGS. 14 and l5.

FIG. 4 shows the welding station (with the xedelectrodes 21 carried by theportion 13) and the moving electrode 20 carried by the annular plate 14.

FIG. 5 shows thecurtting-out station, the respective tools being shown at 22 (the moving tool carried by the annular plate 14) and at 23 which is the fixed tool carried by the gantry 13.

When the manufacture is changed, it is only necessary to modify .the working Atools 517, 20-21, 22-23, and to move the masks 11 and 12 together with the stations themselves, which can be etected very rapidly. In order to carry out a new manufacture, it is generally only necessary to provide new working tools, which is very economical.

As far as the drawing device such as Ti is concerned, this can be producedfin a number of Ways.

In FIGS. A1 and 2, it has been assumed that this device was constituted by the assembly of two pieces, namely: a member 25 forming asupport, this member'being fixed in an adjustablemanner onthe bars 9' and-carrying actuating means such as `a jack 26; and agpping member 27 which can be mounted freely on the said bars while being actuated by the jack 26, the said member comprising gripping elements such as two bars or rollers 28 and 29, between which the band or bands are passed.

These two small bars are normally urged towards each other so as to grip the bands. During the operation of the jack 26, the latter moves the member 27 in the direction f and also draws the bands with it. A tension stress (by weights, etc.) may be applied at the outlet of the machine on the said bands, which in addition may be led between guiding rollers 30 and 31. On the return movement of the jack, an electro-magnet device or the like (not shown) momentarily moves the gripping bars 28 and 29 apart, so that the latter, when the recoil movement is complete, again act on a fresh portion of the said bands.

Any other gripping device could be employed with the object of obtaining the desired result, that is to say the intermittent drive in equal steps (but which can be varied at will when passing from one manufacture to another).

It is for example possible to provide, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, that the moving member 26a of the jack 26 carries out on the one hand a direct drive in both directions on the gripping member 27 (with its gripping elements 28a and 29a, constituted by a cooperating set of rollers and a knife, and the electromagnet 39) and on the other hand a drive in a single direction by means of a chain 40 carried by the arm 26b of the moving member 26a and of a free wheel 40a of the roller 31. Since the rollers 30 and 31 provide a drive forvthe band 8, the upper rollers 30 and lower rollers 31 are made respectively of flexible material (such as rubber) and of a hard material (such as steel) so as to insure on the one hand a taking-up of play due to wear and an exact adjustment of the drive (since the diameter of the hard roller remains constant).

Following this, whatever form of embodiment may be adopted, a machine can be set up to form and eventually cut-out various articles, in particular boxes, from exible bands, which are for example transparent or translucent.

Such a machine operates in the following manner.

After the various devices have been placed in position and the working tools and adjustment of the masks in the heating device CH have been prepared, each working cycle comprises the following operations;

The forward movement of the two bands 1 and 2 (the second carrying when so desired, inscriptions as can be seen in FIG. 16) by one step by means of the traction device T1' actuated by the jack 26, the setting of the exact length of the step being completed eventually by means of a photo-electric cell (not shown) in front of which pass the inscriptions or reference marks arranged on the band 2, and acting on the traction device Ti;

The simultaneous lift of the lower plates 14 of the devices for forming welding, and cutting-out, for example by distribution of compressed air as indicated in FIG. 16 by means of supply conduits 37 and return conduits 38 for compressed air, followed by the vacuum to carry out the forming, the high-frequency for the welding and the punching-out pressure being applied for example independently, for a period which can be regulated by timing mechanisms (not shown), depending on the article manufactured.

Downward movement of the lower plates of the device for forming, welding and cutting-out, also preferably by the effect of a parallel distribution of a compressed uid such as air;

At the same time as the operations of forming, welding, and cutting-out, the operation of iilling takes place (when such is required) in the iilling zone C, and also of course (as explained above) the return of the moving portion of the traction element Ti to the position from which it is ready to start its tractive operation again and a fresh cycle begins.

It will be observed that in the form of embodiment of the drawing device T shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, when the moving member 26a (on which is iixed the gripping member 27) of the jack 26 moves towards the right, taking with it the gripping elements 28a and 29a urged against each other and in consequence drawing the band or bands 8 in the direction of the arrow f, it causes by the action of its arm 26b on the chain 40, the rotation of the wheel 40a and in consequence that of the roller 31 which facilitates the ejection of the band 8 on the downstream side of the gripping elements, and avoids any choking between these elements and the rollers 30 and 31; when the moving member of the jack' 26 moves towards the left, taking with it the gripping elements (without acting on the band since the gripping elements are then moved away by the electro-magnet 39) from the position shown in FIG. 16 to the position of FIG. 17, from which they again draw the band, it is without action on the roller 31 since the free wheel 40a does not provide any drive when the chain 40 is displaced in this direction.

This operation is such that when the respective positions of the various stations along the bars such as 9 have been suitably set by using the rule '35 (see FIG. 16), after each fresh movement of the band there is produced the ejection of a box which will have previously passed through the various successive treatments corresponding to the number of stations employed.

A machine of this kind has a large number of advantages as compared with machines of the type in question which already exist;

The possibility of manufacturing objects of dilerent shapes and sizes, by virtue of the fact that the various elements of this machine are easily controllable as to position and that the Working tools are readily interchangeable;

That of insuring however a minimum overall size,

since no space has been wasted;

Also that of enabling the losses of raw material to be reduced to a minimum and in many cases, such as particularly the application to receptacles or objects of rectangular shape, of eliminating all losses of material due to waste at the cutting-out stage; Y

That of insuring that the Whole machine is fairly light;

And that of enabling the lower parts of the plates to be freed so as to ensure easy ejection;

That of being able to work, in the case of certain forms of embodiment, solely by compressed air with the exception of the electric current required for heating and welding and for the regulating apparatus.

The first of the advantages referred to above is due in particular to the mounting of the various stations of the machine, and to the possibility of adjustment which results from this. By means of this possibility of adjustment, it is possible to interchange the Various operations or again to double certain operations, for example two stages of forming, cutting-out or welding, either by arranging the similar apparatus or stations side by side and/or behind each other. Similarly, certain of these operations can be eliminated.

This results in facility of adaptation of the machine in question to the most diverse kinds of manufacture in a very short time, which renders the machine universal with resulting advantage from the economic point of view, even in the case of small and medium sizes.

Thus, apart from the possibility of manufacturing boxes of round, rectangular or other shape, it is also possible in a more simple manner to prepare cellular bands 1b such as those shown in FIG. 8 for example, intended to float, or again bands 1c provided with various hollow and relief portions such as shown in FIG. 9.

In the case of boxes, it is possible by proceeding to suitable cutting-out of the bands or at least of one of the two bands, to make lids with handles 34 such as shown in FIG. 10 (boxes 7a).

Vwith respect to an ambient uid.

The articles of FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 may be simply produced, as shown in FIG. 18, by providing -for the station PF two moving elements of the type 14, S which may be moved away from or brought closer tothe bars 9 transversely to the two bands 1 yand 2 which are both vtreated so as to produce a cell in each, the welding and the cutting-out of the shaped bands la and 2a being carried out as in the case of the boxes '7 of FIGS. 1 and 2.

A further possibility is shown in FIG. 14 whichshows a teacloth in which, by suitable treatment at a forming Vstation PF, there has been cut out or obtained by deformation of the band, a kind of embroidery.

Finally, starting with la number of bands, for example 3, various objects such as wallets 33 can be formed. FIG. 15 shows that one of the bands 1, unwound from a -roll 3, is rst given a surface treatment at 32 in a shaping station vPF so las to obtain a decorative surface elect. r[hen the two other bands 2a and 2b, delivered from the ycorriesponding reels 4a and 4b, are utilized to form the pockets of the wallet 33.

A large number of other applications can readily be envisaged While remaining within the scope of the invention.

As will be readily understood and as furthermore results already from the preceding description, the invention is not in any way limited to-those methods-of application or to those forms of embodiment of its various parts which have been more particularly considered; on the contrary, the invention includes all Ytheir possible alternative forms.

What we vclaim is:

1. A machine adapted to form various articles from a eXible band and Vcomprising llongitudinal supporting means, at least two working stations each Yadapted to perform, when operated during a given time period, a predetermined forming step on said band, means for securing 8 each of said working stations in an adjustable position along said longitudinal supporting means, actuating means for rendering said vworking stations simultaneously operative, and `driving means for pulling said bandpstep by step, between successive operations of said actuating means,

,along said supporting means through said working stations, said drawing means comprising two cooperating elements relatively movable in opposite directions perpendicular to said band between a first position in which said elements grip said band and a second position 'Vin which said elements are inoperative relative to said band, means for displacing both said cooperating elements to and iro along said longitudinal supporting means between a pair of precisely determined locations, at least one location in said pair being adjustable, and means for maintaining said cooperating elements in said lirst position when said elements are moved along said longitudinal supporting means from a'rst to a second location -i-n Asaid pair and in said second position when said elements are moved along said longitudinal supporting means from said second to Vsaid lirst location in said pair.

2. A machine as claimed in claim l1 wherein one of said stations'is a welding station.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said stations is a welding station and another of said stations isa cutting-out station.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of -said stations comprising a rst portion generally 'in the-shape of a gantry andadapted to be xed in adjustable manner on said longitudinal supporting means, and a second portion including a movable plate of annular shape movable transversely yto the direction of motion of said band, and working tools on said rst and second portions, said actuating means being operatively associated with the movable plate for controlling said drawing means.

References .Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,024,354 Gurwick Dec. ,17, 1935 2,149,028 Meisel Feb. 28, 1939 2,229,613 Strauch Jan. 21, 1941 2,422,750 Rue lune 24, 1947 2,497,212 Donofrio Feb. 1.4, 1950 2,530,306 Land Nov. 14, 1950 2,712,717 Keller July 12, 1955 2,736,150 Loew Feb. r28, 1956 2,879,635 Brock Mar.'31, 1959 

